DESIGN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
5 Startling Truths I Had to Learn the Hard Way as a Design Entrepreneur
Turns out there’s quite a lot.
They said follow your passion, and opportunities will follow you. They said its never hard when you love what you do. They lied!
Five years back, I decided to start my own brand experience design agency with the hope of getting blue chip clients and making a million dollars a month.
But guess what? I was hoping to do all this with just my laptop, sitting in my university’s library and using their internet connection!
Hilarious, right?
I had no idea where to start. I consulted my teachers, the authorities, the internet; everyone advised me to do what I loved. And that’s what I did.
Do I regret that? No, not at all. In fact, now that I have been through the thick and thin, I am enjoying my exponential growth.
But would I have liked a better presentation of what it's really like to pursue your passion? Would I have liked to hear about the struggles I’d be facing? Would I have liked someone to implant realistic expectations in my head? Heck, yes!
Through massive trial and error, here are the 5 things that I learned being a brand experience designer.
Finding a client is not at all easy
Now that we can access the whole world through internet, people are becoming more and more familiar with the concept of branding.
But there is still a fair number of people who don’t even know why they should have a logo!
When I first started cold calling people, (yes, that’s how I started. Let me know if you want that story and I’ll be happy to share) I got cold rejections.
Makes sense, right? Cold rejections on cold calls! Ok, maybe it wasn’t that funny, but hey, at least I tried.
I literally had people saying: “we have a best seller product; we don’t need a logo.” Now that I know how to close a deal with a stubborn client, I would have gone directly to their office and given them a free mini course on why they need a logo.
But you learn from your mistakes, don’t you?
I got my first client after 40 rejections! But even that project got dismissed amid execution. And the process of cold calls started again.
People don’t know what branding is!
Yes, you read that correctly! People think branding is meaningless, it's a waste of time and money. They want to just focus on their product because they believe that no amount of branding would be able to sell a product if it was not good itself.
At least in third world countries like mine.
Especially the small enterprise owners. If they have to sacrifice something due to any reason, it would be branding!
Whenever I got even a little response from a potential client, I had to make sure to create a presentation that could first make them understand the power of branding and only then could I move to the quote and discovery.
Imagine how frustrating that was!
You cannot be one-man-do-all
I started out as a lone struggler. I was reaching out to clients, negotiating, presenting, researching, brainstorming, designing, writing, and cursing my decision all by myself.
It was burning me out. My motivation was being devoured by the lack of progress and I knew I had to do something about it.
The problem? How was I supposed to ask people to join me when I had nothing to give them in return?
But I had to give it a try or risk ditching the idea altogether.
Finding loyalty as a startup is a challenge
From the moment I realized I had to get other people to join me, I set out to hunt people. It started with my classmates and friends who were undoubtedly delighted to join.
With no client and no money, I couldn’t offer anything to them, but being students and highly optimistic, they decided to give my business a try.
The initial team consisted of 12 people with confused designations, all hoping to get something out of this business in a matter of months.
Unrealistic!
This team was reduced to 6 people within the first week. The reasons being demotivation, manipulation and again, their highly optimistic behavior that they can do much better than sit with a struggler in the university’s library and work for nothing.
This team continued to work with me for the next 5 to 6 months. And the depletion came again! Reduced to 3 people, including me.
But let me tell you, after all the stages of depletion, frustration and demotivation, if there’s even a single person standing beside you, grab them! Don’t let them go. Cherish them.
Because they are the gems that will make your founding team and take your startup to the next level. They will work with you for free as long as it takes to get to your goal. They will support you, have faith in you, motivate you.
Balance is crucial
No, not the work-home balance. Not even the work-work balance! I’m talking about the hiring process.
I’m talking about the balance of experience in your teammates. With fresh graduates, again they are “highly optimistic” and think they can do way better than a startup.
With each new teammate, I faced betrayal. They would start with enthusiasm, learn the operations, gain experience and move on to a better-established company.
Yes, I get it. Everyone should move on. But if you don’t want to work with me because I’m a startup and are only there for the experience, just tell me directly. I would be more than happy to give you the experience certificate and everything that is required but I don’t want my time to be wasted!
With the more experienced ones, well, I simply didn’t have money to pay them.
The solution? Widen your circle, make loyal friendships, learn to communicate your ideas in a way that would make people want to work with you. Show them your efforts and make them believe that if they join you, they will prosper with you.
My name is Muhammad Usman, and I am the founder & creative director of a brand experience design agency. My aim is to help not only the creatives but also the businesses that want to become design-driven and escalate their sales. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help out in the comment section. :)
Alright folks, my gem of a teammate from point number 4, has been clawing for my attention for the past 2 hours on an urgent matter. I think I should get back to him.
